Choppers landing on the football field. Tanks moving through the streets.

In an effort to control the now giant Winward Spinnerette, the National Guard has moved onto campus.

"Doesn't Psyhigh have its own defenses?" you might ask. "With all of the super powered kids on campus, isn't there some special team to respond to these kinds of emergencies?"

You'd think so, right? Early on, the school did have such special teams, led by legendary Psyhigh students like Loretta, the Corn Girl; and Time Ray; and Sizzle; and Tobias the Totality Boy. But a study was done and it turned out that in situtations like this, super-powered teams of psychic youth ended up creating even more destruction than traditional military action. Ever since, there's been an agreement to let the military handle monster-sized events.

"Everyone, move out to the way. Go to your pre-assigned safety bunker containment units immediately," squawked the loudspeakers.

The National Guard was moving in a battery of extremely high tech weapons--huge radar dishes, laser cannons bristling with electricity, heated rollers the size of school busses, giant robot barbers with blades for hands.

The crashing and thrashing sounds were getting closer. It may have just destroyed the gym.

It was a hair hex, alright.

"Hairs in the cafeteria!"

"Hairs in the gym!"

"Hairs in the bandroom!"

"Hairs in the restrooms!"

Ewww. Well, somebody was going to have to start pulling on these hairs, but it wasn't going to be me. Because I already knew the source of this hex.

All these hairs led to just one person. @Hessian Burning. And his creature.

With Minx gone upstairs to talk to the Big Guys, it was time to make some changes.

"Alright everybody, with Minx gone a-visiting, you know what that means."

"Changes 'round here!" everybody cheers.

"That's right. Now, pull up those shades! Open those windows!"

"Hooray!" everybody cheers.

"Get all these creepy artifacts off the tables! Stash 'em in the bureau! Put 'em in the drawers!"

"Hooray!" everybody cheers.

"Open up the lemonade!"

"Hooray!" everybody cheers.

"Now, let's start writing those invitations."

"Hooray!" everybody cheers.

The marbles clacked their way to the front of the Qwik Stop. @Hessian Burning was at the door with a Winward Spinnerette in his arms.

“You know you’re not supposed to remove those from their natural environment,” I said. “You’re supposed to leave them.”

Hessian looked at the creature in his arms.

“Yeah, I know,” Hessian said. “But, have you ever seen one? In person? Just look at it. It’s… beautiful…”

That was the thing about Winward Spinnerettes. Their charm. Hessian was already under its spell.

One of the ways to find active hexes is just look over the town. Look for what looks like smoke. A whisp of black or white curling up between the rooftops. Sometimes doesn’t look like smoke at all. Looks like more of a feeling. 

Sometimes you can follow cats. Outdoor cats, stray cats, feral cats. Sometimes they move towards the hex. Sometimes they are moving away. 

Or it can be a distortion in space time. An extreme high pressure system expanding everything like a funhouse mirror, or an extreme low pressure system, creating a dent, a dip...

I tossed a handful of marbles (hexed) on the parking lot and watched them roll. Down the rain gutter, up over the kerb, onto the sidewalk...

I followed them up the hill.